2011 Road Racing Season

This season was kind of up in the air for me.  I was going to put in some miles and get some quality workouts in but nothing too serious or over the top.  So with that said my race results speak for themselves in comparison to past years results in these races when I was in top form.  I only put in about 20-30 miles a week, never really ever building a base.  My efforts in these races were 100%, no doubt about it, but my fitness level was only taking me to finishing places like 3rd through 5th, just couldn't quite get over the hump to finish in the top spot.  Overall, with what I put into the season training wise the 2011 racing season was a success.  With my new found passion for stairs I found myself playing a balancing act between the two.

April 2, 2011
Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon
4th Place 1:17:02

Usually for this race the weather is very unpredictable but in our case this year it worked out very well with some great cool weather.  I figured I'd be good running just under 6 minute pace and where did I find myself at mile 1-5:20.  After that I just settled in to a good pace and pushed through to a 4th place finish.  Not too bad for my first 1/2, which mind you was very very hilly.  This race was also coming off a good opener in the stair climbing season so my training for this was a mixture of stair training and 1/2 marathon training.  So I found myself incorporating my long 10-12 mile runs on Saturday with stairs on Sunday, which became hard to do.


May 18, 2011
Scholastic Challenge 5k
3rd Place 16:30

This another fun race with a wide range of age groupers showing up.  This race is a fundraiser race for all the area high schools; all the entry fees go to a specified area high school.  So naturally a lot of high schoolers show up for this race making things fast, usually.  The race went out slower than other years and I think it worked to my advantage.  Usually this race goes out in under 5min. but this year we went out in a comfortable 5:20.  I finished up 3rd behind two very good collegiate runners.

August 11, 2011
State Fair 2mile Parade Run
5th Place, 10:10

This race is by far one of my favorites every year.  Its a competitive 2 mile out and back road race that is very fast every year with temperatures in the upper 90's.  I take this race very seriously every year and want to be in top form.  Yet this year I found myself falling behind in my running training because of work.  I just didn't have the time and energy to get the miles and workouts in that I wanted and needed to do to be up with the best in this race.  None the less I ran a solid 10:10 and ran with the top group for the opening mile and just feel off a bit.





August 21, 2011
Abe's Amble 10k
4th Place, 34:34


Well its been a while since I've competed in this race, as in the last year I ran was back when I was 14 years old and finished in just over 40 minutes.  This year was a different story; I was out to finish in the top 3.  Again my training continued to struggle with work but I just decided to let my God given talents take over and just go for it.  This course is considered the hardest 10k course in the Midwest and the last 5k is torture.  I just muscled through the last 5k and found myself in 3rd with a mile to go.  It wasn't until a good friend of mine passed me in the last mile pushing me back to 4th.  I was exhausted of energy and my body was shutting down that last mile.  Yet it was another fun race that really tested me mentally.


Overall, it was another great season of running.  I had a lot of fun competing and trying to balance out my training with a new found passion for stair climbing.  These two sports really go hand in hand with each other though.  As for now, I think I want to focus on stairs and see where it can take me while still holding on to my first love which is running.